cannabisnews.com: Foundations are in Place for Martial Law in the US





Foundations are in Place for Martial Law in the US
Posted by CN Staff on July 27, 2002 at 10:58:17 PT
By Ritt Goldstein
Source: Sydney Morning Herald 
Recent pronouncements from the Bush Administration and national security initiatives put in place in the Reagan era could see internment camps and martial law in the United States.When president Ronald Reagan was considering invading Nicaragua he issued a series of executive orders that provided the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with broad powers in the event of a "crisis" such as "violent and widespread internal dissent or national opposition against a US military invasion abroad". They were never used.
But with the looming possibility of a US invasion of Iraq, recent pronouncements by President George Bush's domestic security chief, Tom Ridge, and an official with the US Civil Rights Commission should fire concerns that these powers could be employed or a de facto drift into their deployment could occur.On July 20 the Detroit Free Press ran a story entitled "Arabs in US could be held, official warns". The story referred to a member of the US Civil Rights Commission who foresaw the possibility of internment camps for Arab Americans. FEMA has practised for such an occasion.FEMA, whose main role is disaster response, is also responsible for handling US domestic unrest. From 1982-84 Colonel Oliver North assisted FEMA in drafting its civil defence preparations. Details of these plans emerged during the 1987 Iran-Contra scandal.They included executive orders providing for suspension of the constitution, the imposition of martial law, internment camps, and the turning over of government to the president and FEMA.A Miami Herald article on July 5, 1987, reported that the former FEMA director Louis Guiffrida's deputy, John Brinkerhoff, handled the martial law portion of the planning. The plan was said to be similar to one Mr Giuffrida had developed earlier to combat "a national uprising by black militants". It provided for the detention "of at least 21 million American Negroes"' in "assembly centres or relocation camps".Today Mr Brinkerhoff is with the highly influential Anser Institute for Homeland Security. Following a request by the Pentagon in January that the US military be allowed the option of deploying troops on American streets, the institute in February published a paper by Mr Brinkerhoff arguing the legality of this. He alleged that the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which has long been accepted as prohibiting such deployments, had simply been misunderstood and misapplied.The preface to the article also provided the revelation that the national plan he had worked on, under Mr Giuffrida, was "approved by Reagan, and actions were taken to implement it".By April, the US military had created a Northern Command to aid Homeland defence. Reuters reported that the command is "mainly expected to play a supporting role to local authorities".However, Mr Ridge, the Director of Homeland Security, has just advocated a review of US law regarding the use of the military for law enforcement duties.Disturbingly, the full facts and final contents of Mr Reagan's national plan remain uncertain. This is in part because President Bush took the unusual step of sealing the Reagan presidential papers last November. However, many of the key figures of the Reagan era are part of the present administration, including John Poindexter, to whom Oliver North later reported.At the time of the Reagan initiatives, the then attorney-general, William French Smith, wrote to the national security adviser, Robert McFarlane: "I believe that the role assigned to the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the revised Executive Order exceeds its proper function as a co-ordinating agency for emergency preparedness ... this department and others have repeatedly raised serious policy and legal objections to an 'emergency czar' role for FEMA."Criticism of the Bush Administration's response to September 11 echoes Mr Smith's warning. On June 7 the former presidential counsel John Dean spoke of America's sliding into a "constitutional dictatorship" and martial law.Ritt Goldstein is an investigative journalist and a former leader in the movement for US law enforcement accountability. He revealed exclusively in the Herald last week the Bush Administration's plans for a domestic spying system more pervasive than the Stasi network in East Germany.Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)Author: Ritt GoldsteinPublished: July 27, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Sydney Morning HeraldWebsite: http://www.smh.com.au/Contact: letters smh.fairfax.com.auRelated Articles:Use of Military for Civilian Policing is Dangeroushttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13510.shtmlSoldiers at US Border Posts To Be Armed http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12371.shtml
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Comment #21 posted by kaptinemo on July 29, 2002 at 08:22:31 PT:
We aren't the only ones noticing, either
"Bush is becoming downright dangerous"
http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/margolis_jul28.html
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Comment #20 posted by qqqq on July 28, 2002 at 18:37:44 PT
...read this...this is not a joke....
..notice the almost frantic tone ....notice the intellectual level of dialogue used to address the nation....This is the pResidunt ..........Note how urgent the items on the pResidunts agenda are,,note how imperitive the passage of these laws are,before the end of next week![?]...imagine the effects the successful passage of these new bills would have on the stock market?......Imagine how stupid anyone who can read this is,,if they dont see through it,and realize that this is an EVIL EMPIRE!!!...
 
 
President Bush's July 27 Radio Address to the Nation
U.S. Newswire
27 Jul 15:16
 WASHINGTON, July 27 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is the
text of President Bush's radio address to the nation today:THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week, the federal government
took decisive action against corporate fraud and abuse. The Justice
Department arrested several executives who used a public company as
a personal loan agency, while hiding their actions from investors
and employees. Additional investigations coordinated by our
corporate fraud task force are underway across the country. It
should be clear to every shareholder, investor and employee in
America that this administration will investigate, arrest and
prosecute corporate executives who break the law.During the last several months, I've called on Congress to pass
strong reforms to hold corporate officers accountable for their
actions. This week, members of Congress responded to that call. The
House and the Senate passed bipartisan reforms, increasing the
penalties for corporate wrongdoers and creating tougher standards
for corporate auditors, so that investors and employees can trust
the accounting statements of their public companies. This
legislation will help reassure Americans that our economic system
is sound and fair. I thank the Congress for their hard work, and I
look forward to signing the bill next week.Members of the United States Senate have one more week before
they head home for August recess. I urge them to take up several
important issues. The Senate should pass trade promotion authority,
which will give me a stronger hand in negotiating foreign trade
agreements. Trade agreements create good jobs and economic growth,
because they open new markets to America's farmers and ranchers and
manufacturers. I urge the Senate to get a final bill to my desk so
I can immediately take action that will create jobs and strengthen
the economy.The Senate should pass the defense appropriations bill, which
includes the largest increases in defense spending since the Reagan
years. Our military needs to plan for a long war on terror and
prepare for all the missions that lie ahead. The House passed its
defense appropriations bill in June; now the Senate must make the
defense of our country a top priority.The Senate should not go home before approving a new Department
of Homeland Security. This department will coordinate our nation's
response to grave national threats, to anticipate our enemies,
analyze our vulnerabilities, and act forcefully to address them.
And the Senate must give the Department of Homeland Security all of
the authority and flexibility it needs to protect the American
people.And the Senate should protect the retirement security of
American workers. In April, the House passed pension reforms based
on my proposals, to give workers more timely information and
greater control over their own retirement funds, as well as access
to professional investment advice. America's retirement security is
too important to fall victim to political game playing, and the
Senate must act now.By taking action on these issues, the Senate can advance our
national priorities of defending freedom, protecting our homeland
and strengthening our economy. The Senate now has one week left to
make progress for the American people, and I urge them to seize the
opportunity.Thank you for listening.
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Comment #19 posted by xxdr_zombiexx on July 27, 2002 at 17:33:49 PT
2 related stories....
http://www.msnbc.com/news/786042.asp?cp1=1 - Bushteam well outspent Gore on recount effortAnd big news of FBI using contacts with MOB for stuff..protecting them etc....... Stuff us "liberals" have alleged for years.Check out the great mobster pic from 1972...This is your Homeland Security on Drugs
FBI used hitmen as informants
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Comment #18 posted by mayan on July 27, 2002 at 14:27:32 PT
Get Ready!
I'm afraid you're right p4me. There will probably be another "terror attack" before mid-October & it will be blamed on Iraq.U.S. summons Iraqi rebels to Washington: 
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20020726-051046-3579rThis is scary -
Cheney Visits CDC For Talks:
http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/333/29758/352611.html
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Comment #17 posted by Zero_G on July 27, 2002 at 14:22:11 PT
Daniel Ortega - his own words
On the Sandinistas' relationship with the United States: [We took power] with great enthusiasm and a great desire to transform the country, but also with the worry that we would have to confront the United States, something which we regarded as inevitable. It's not that we fell into a kind of geopolitical fatalism with regard to the United States, but historically speaking the United States has been interfering in our country since the last century, and so we said, "The Yankees will inevitably interfere. If we try to become independent, the United States will intervene." I would say that we tried to neutralize that confrontation with the United States, and around September of Ô79 I went to the United Nations, and before that I visited Washington and had a meeting with President Carter. During the meeting with President Carter, we proposed the development of a new kind of relationship with the United States. During our exchange, [he said that] the American government was worried about the implications of the revolution and that the conservative sections of the United States perceived it as a threat. We insisted that this was an opportunity, as I said to Carter, for the United States to make good the historical damage they had inflicted on our country. Our national anthem still includes the words "Yankee, the enemy of humanity," and we said to him that the only way to abolish that line would be for the attitude of the imperialist powers to change throughout the world, and specifically towards Nicaragua. And then, in concrete terms, we asked President Carter for a certain amount of economic help, and for material support to build up a new army, because the old one had been wiped out. We needed weapons, because Nicaragua didn't manufacture any at the time, so we were asking them to help us in this respect. But they couldn't respond, because there was a public debate going on in the United States at that moment, and the conservatives were accusing Carter of opening the door to "communism," which was the word they used for these changes. It was up to the U.S. Congress to make these kinds of decisions, and the Congress did not want to approve such decisions. [Our relationship with Cuba] was precisely the challenge -- that the United States should respect our right to maintain friendly relations with whoever Nicaragua wanted. If the United States wanted to put conditions on Nicaragua's relations [with other countries], then it meant that we were starting off on the wrong foot, that the old imperialist attitude was still the same and there was nothing democratic about it at all, and that they were keeping up their dictatorial attitude throughout the world, supported by their economic and military power. So this meant that we started trying to find weapons in other parts of the world. Of course, the kind of support that Cuba could give us was very limited when it came to building up our army, since they didn't manufacture armaments in the quantities that we required. So we turned to Algeria and the Soviet Union for support. The first weapons that we received came from Algeria. Algeria identified very much with our struggle. We conducted a series of negotiations at the time, and the first reply we received came from Algeria. Then we began to receive support from other countries of the socialist community, and mainly from the Soviet Union. ... I remember perfectly well that when we began working in that direction, which we did quite openly, the U.S. government sent us an emissary, Mr. Thomas Enders, and I remember my conversation with him. He came to tell us very clearly that the United States was not going to allow a Soviet-Cuban communist bridgehead to be established in this continent. I said that we had a right to maintain relations with any other country, and that they should respect that right. And then he said that I should understand that they had to power to crush us, to which I replied that we were ready to fight and confront them even though they were a big power -- that Sandino had already confronted them in the past and that we were ready to do so again if they tried to crush us. from:http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/18/interviews/ortega/
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Comment #16 posted by mayan on July 27, 2002 at 14:13:28 PT
Dogs of the Drug War...
And it sure ain't Pavlov's dog!Suit: Drug dog terrorized young students -
http://fyi.cnn.com/2002/fyi/teachers.ednews/07/26/school.drug.dog.ap/index.html
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Comment #15 posted by VitaminT on July 27, 2002 at 14:07:39 PT
p4me
the shrub is going to start a war in Iraq or some other place timed to coincide with his re-election campaign.I'm speculating of course, but the signs are there. Lots of sabre-rattling, public threats, a lap-dog media unwilling to challenge the rationale for any of his military actions. Like Pavlov training his dog, The men behind the shrub are priming the population to drool jingoistic on command.
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Comment #14 posted by Zero_G on July 27, 2002 at 13:59:14 PT
This-ism, that-ism
Two, one two three four
Ev'rybody's talking about
Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism, Ragism, Tagism
This-ism, that-ism, is-m, is-m, is-m. All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance C'mon
Ev'rybody's talking about Ministers,
Sinisters, Banisters and canisters
Bishops and Fishops and Rabbis and Pop eyes,
And bye bye, bye byes. All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance Let me tell you now
Ev'rybody's talking about
Revolution, evolution, masturbation,
flagellation, regulation, integrations,
meditations, United Nations,
Congratulations. All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance Ev'rybody's talking about
John and Yoko, Timmy Leary, Rosemary,
Tommy Smothers, Bobby Dylan, Tommy Cooper,
Derek Taylor, Norman Mailer,
Alan Ginsberg, Hare Krishna,
Hare, Hare Krishna All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance 
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Comment #13 posted by herbdoc215 on July 27, 2002 at 13:57:53 PT
This is Tightest Secret In US NOW........
get ten inquiries about how to go about getting a 2nd Passports for every other inquiry that we get - Why?
 Roger Gallo is the editor of EscapeArtist.com - 
 Escape From America Magazine 
Magazine Master Index 
More on Second Passports 
Submit an Article 
Subscriptions are Free 
 
 The world has changed and we have changed along with it - we are no longer willing to entrust our life and our freedom to the vagaries of any one government - Most of us no longer trust government as being a modality that is capable of creating liberty - The world is going global and more and more of us are discovering that we can make better livings abroad and that the possession of a 2nd Passport increases our degree of freedom, our latitude of movement and protects the money we earn from unfair taxation - In addition even the most casual glance at history demonstrates that a second passport can easily save our life. Those that needed one in a desperate hour may have wished with all their might they had learned about them when they had the opportunity. Those that ignore the lessons of history are bound to repeat the mistakes of history. Will the Doors Soon Shut Locking Some Americans In? It is surprising how many people don't believe what has happened elsewhere can happen in America - Despite the fact that there is an almost civil war action occurring in America between splinter groups in conflict with the U.S. Government - despite the fact that street crime is at an all time high - despite that fear of violence, racial tensions and an atmosphere of government surveillance into every aspect of American life a continuing percentage of the population have not yet accepted the fact that what did happen elsewhere will happen here - It is difficult for people bred into ignorance to know the difference -
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Comment #12 posted by herbdoc215 on July 27, 2002 at 13:46:29 PT
Where is Hannabil and his Oliphants(sic) today?
History forms loops, over and over. The greatest sin of Satan wasn't convincing the world he didn't exist, hell we can all see him everyday all around us. It was in co-opting Jesus message that ranks as the greatest evil of all time and over many papal bulls spinning Christianity into a flag to drape white Europeans conscience as they went about plundering the world and enslaving it's inhabitants. The very idea of using Jesus message in support of maintaining the status quo is the bastardization of all thats good in the human condition for his word was one of rebellion to the class system of religion and need of interceries to understand God or his plan. If this powerbase has managed to spin Jesus's words into a mandate to put an entire nation in prison, how can we ever hope to stop this Jaggernault. At what point in Europe did the others realize they were going to be part of the slaughter as soon as room at the Zeonon B hotel was available? How much longer in US do you think it will be before some red-neck politician say's their wasting money locking up all these misfit's, that they ought to just shoot them all? First they will say the drug people, then the Arabs they can get their hands on, and then??? I have been watching things degrade in US since leaving and I am watching the US make it increasingly hard for it's citizens to leave...I only pray for all my friends and family behind the wall. Go to www.escapeartist.com and read what Uncle Sam is doing to all the sane countries of refuge that exist for expatriates, many may find the links there to be very interesting??? I did! Peace, Steven Tuck  in FreeCanada 
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Comment #11 posted by E_Johnson on July 27, 2002 at 13:34:02 PT
Does Chomsky think Ortega was right?
I'm not that familiar with Noam, what has he written on Ortega's angry heated breakup with Fidel?It's interesting, these days the biggest public fan of the law enforcement successes of the Cuban KGB is Barry McCaffrey. But the man who flatters them through imitation is John Ashcroft.Now where does Chomsky stand in all of this? Does he believe, for example, that if Castro had his way in Nicaragua, it would have ended better?If Chomsky sides with Castro too, then I would say that was highly ironic. McCaffrey, Ashcroft, Chomsky -- that Fidel, he knows how to make friends.
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Comment #10 posted by E_Johnson on July 27, 2002 at 13:27:30 PT
Ah Nicaragua
The mentally and politically healthiest thing that ever happened to Nicaragua was when Daniel Ortega opened his eyes and threw the Cuban KGB out of the country.The Cuban KGB was trying to enlist the Nicaraguan people in a Homeland Security TIPS program a lot like the one Ashcroft has proposed for the US.Ortega said, "Nicaraguans are not snitches!" and Castro's KGB was given a big boot in the ass.OH where is Daniel Ortega now when we need him?
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Comment #9 posted by p4me on July 27, 2002 at 13:17:32 PT
democracy now.org
Since this article mentioned Reagan and his inhuman efforts in Nicaragua, I want to mention http://www.democracynow.org/On the left side Noam Chomsky has a two part report that needs to be listened to by everyone. We did not mind killing hundreds of thousands of people in the Phillipines when they somehow thought that they should be independent of US. The economic powers do not mind twisting the jury system, bribing judges, killing people, or locking people up if it is interfering with their profit flow. When Busch is shown the door in the next election, I wonder how far down the best president list he will be. This guy is totally not up for the job and is a dickhead. He is the worst president during my lifetime in my opinion and I go back to Eisenhour. And are they going to have a war without Congressional approval. I think everyone should close their wallets at least until the elections. Money talks and bullshit walks. Vote with your money.1,2
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Comment #8 posted by xxdr_zombiexx on July 27, 2002 at 13:09:56 PT
Sheep
If you cup your ear and listen really carefully, you can hear the contented bleating of sheep, still grazing at the illusions of the dwindiling 401(k) financial pastures....The Foxes that Guard the Sheep have put the finishing touches on their new holding pens.....ones with little corridors leading to a big long building with lots of fans and a chimney on top of it..... hmmmmmmHarmlessly passing your time in the grassland away
Only dimly aware of a certain unease in the air
You better watch out
There may be dogs about
I've looked over Jordan and I have seen
Things are not what they seemWhat do you get for pretending the danger's not real
Meek and obedient you follow the leader
Down well trodden corridors into the valley of steel
What a surprise!
A look of terminal shock in your eyes
Now things are really what they seem
No, this is no bad dream.*******Have you heard the news?
The dogs are dead!
You better stay home
And do as you're told
Get out of the road if you want to grow old.
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Comment #7 posted by E_Johnson on July 27, 2002 at 12:34:50 PT
Libertarians can't dance
Okay show me one who can...Let's see PJ get funky.Prolly looks like Whitney Huston.
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Comment #6 posted by Industrial Strength on July 27, 2002 at 12:30:10 PT
PJ O'rourke
A scary individual. I really enjoyed "25 years of PJ O'Rourke", when he wrote of his hippy past, but "all the trouble in the world" is pretty frightening. Way, way too right wing.
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Comment #5 posted by E_Johnson on July 27, 2002 at 12:22:35 PT
Coming to you today from tha mothaship!!
As Emma Goldman said, I don't want a revolution that I can't dance to!Make my funk a P funkI wants to get funked upYou can't dance to Leo Tolstoy or Ayn Rand. Jefferson maybe a polite waltz.
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Comment #4 posted by E_Johnson on July 27, 2002 at 12:15:22 PT
And when slaves fear their masters?
Oops Jefferson flunked that test...
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Comment #3 posted by Windminstrel on July 27, 2002 at 11:29:38 PT
Too bad the left is fighting gun ownership
The reason the founding fathers insisted on the second ammendment is so the government would be afraid of oppressing the people. As Thomas Jefferson wrote, "When governments fear the people there is liberty. When the people fear the government there is tyranny.". Read a bit further and you'll see things like "What country can preserve it’s liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?".Or, to put it simpler, "Politics should be limited in scope to war, protection of property, and the occasional precautionary beheading of a member of the ruling class."
-P.J. O'Rourke 
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Comment #2 posted by E_Johnson on July 27, 2002 at 11:16:14 PT
Even they admit it
Even Barry McCaffrey admitted that the WOD has created a GULag within America.But his solution was to put nice curtains and war profiteers with masters degrees in the GULag and call it treatment.But you see -- they thought of that in the Soviet Union too!Political dissdents were often sentenced to psychiatric treatment instead of prison.After all, anyone who rejected the good life offered by conforming to the state was pretty obviously ill with some social or mental disease.
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Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on July 27, 2002 at 11:09:03 PT
We already have internment -- WOD? Hello?
Hello? War on Drugs? Heard of that?We've already turned over the government to the DEA. In fact the DEA practically runs both political parties. Tell me which party platform contains anything the least bit objectionable to the DEA?They do whatever they damned please, in direct oppiosition to the voters.They spend enormous taxpayer resources trying to fight the taxpayers themselves.Um is the picture getting any clearer yet?
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